I was never prejudiced until today, I hate all WHITE...

[charlie.nj]

Christmas lights especially the stupid white icicle kind. (hey lady they don't look like icicles, they look like little white lights tied on crooked white strings.) Who took the color out of Christmas? This year, as I drove around my development, it really hit me. Every single house had white icicle lights in the windows and strings of white lights in the bushes and trees. (in the trees might be nice in WDW but Jersey City is no Magic Kingdom.) Not one color light in the whole development. It is just sickening that this could happen in this day and age in such an advanced country. (first corn and now color lights, what's next)

Well I have some news for you; I went out and brought a couple of those old fashioned strings of color lights. (you remember the big bulbs don't you?) The guys over at my local big Home Improvement store, more or less laughed in my face when I asked for them. (they got on the sound system and announced, "Someone is asking for old fashioned color Christmas lights in aisle 5, go check the FOOL out") How humiliating, I left with my scarf covering my face. (I bet all of the white light lovers had white or aluminum fake Christmas trees in the 1950's, no wonder they are so screwed up.)

I was able to find a few strings of color in an old neighborhood hardware store. (the old-timer behind the counter remembered them well) He told me a great story about the twinkle bulbs. (I can't repeat it on the DIS) He put them in a brown bag, and told me to be careful. (I felt like James Bond, no better yet an 18 year-old who just scored a 6pack of beer.)

I proudly put the big old lights in my front windows for ALL to see. Yes the beautiful blues, the gracious greens, the regal reds, and the outrageous oranges. Those are the true colors of Christmas. (young people take note)

My anti-white crusade has not been an easy one. The neighbors are sending around a petition to have me take down my color lights. They said that we are ruining the flow of the neighborhood Christmas theme. (FLOW THIS!) I heard that the association is scheduling a special meeting about my lights. (come and get me, and you thought Waco was bad)

My wife and I can take the abuse but I am very worried about my two young sons. Some neighborhood hooligans started telling them that Santa doesn't go to houses with color Christmas lights. (they came home in tears)

I will let you all know what happens.

By the way what is it at your house WHITE or COLOR?

(don't be afraid to admit your preference, the DIS is a friendly place)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(Dan M. reminded me about this 20 year old DIS-mas tale. Gee 20 years…pre Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Google. I read that back in 1997 when The DIS started there were less than 100,000 websites today there are over 1.8 billion. Pete W. is an innovator The Disney Information Station was the first unofficial Disney website. )

 

[Floridaman999]

Alrighty then.

 

[Pea's Mom]

I'm with you, I find all white lights very boring. We have color in abundance. I do not, however go around telling people they are wrong for putting up all white (though I secretly think it . To each their own.

 

[Kitty 34]

We used to have the biggest bulbs of beautiful colors wrapped around every pole of the porch. We admired them proudly until we couldn't buy replacement bulbs let alone new ones.

Merry Christmas Charlie and thanks for my smile this Christmas morning.

 

[4kids4karen]

You should move to a more diverse neighborhood. LOL.

I like color lights, but some of the folks around here have what I call fiesta Christmas lights that I think are tacky. They are not the traditional color lights. They come in bulbs or icicle style so fiesta color icicles are up on about every 4th house in my neighborhood. I have a set of the big old fashion color bulbs. My teen daughter wanted us to hand the white icicle lights this year, so we did (we actually own both and had both in storage so she had a choice). My daughter says she doesn't like the color lights anymore, when she was younger she loved color lights. So, I think just being a teen she thinks the white is more classic. Oh and she is particular, not the "yellowish white" lights, but the "bright white" is the only ones she likes.

The three we have had the past few years is pre-lite bright white. When the kids were younger they liked the color lights on the tree. We have no "littles" in our house. I think the color lights are fun when you have little ones.

 

[ronandannette]

The pendulum has swung back the other way around here and I for one am thrilled. I think at one time that look was considered elegant but fashions change. (Note that the OP’s 2nd hand story is 20 years old - can you even buy icicle lights anymore?)

We took a quick drive through our neighbourhood last night and the houses and yards are a riot of colour. Out of dozens of houses maybe only two or three has plain white lights. Tons and tons of those inflatable decorations this year though; more than I’ve ever seen before. I imagine they will eventually become passé like the icicle lights and will be replaced by something else.

 

[RedAngie]

I never cared for icicle lights because I agree with OP that they look cheap and tacky. The first year or two they looked fairly good but then manufacturers flooded the market with cheap knockoffs.

All clear lights are fine IMO, however.

I still have some C-7 lights (individual bulbs that screw into the sockets) in multi-colors, but I haven't put them out in a few years. Maybe I will next year. Decades ago we had some C-9 bulbs (bigger than C-7).


When I was a kid we had those three and five light plastic candelabras to display in the front windows facing the street. I liked to put multi color bulbs in them.

 

[Floridaman999]

Legend has it that the first Christmas light was a single white bulb. Some people came from miles away to see it. Some of the wisest ones even brought gifts. White was the thing back then so I don't see a problem with it now.

 

[kaytieeldr]

(first corn and now color lights, what's next)

Corn?

(I bet all of the white light lovers had white or aluminum fake Christmas trees in the 1950's, no wonder they are so screwed up.)

not
Now, now. Anyone who purchased an aluminum tree in the 50s would be at least 59 now, likely much older. Are you saying you live in a senior community?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I won't take offense lol

We have icicle lights (and yes you can still buy them we just bought some this year too to replace our older ones) on part of our house. They are the warm white incandescent ones.

Ours look like this:


We have colored lights (LED but not uber bright) around our columns on our front porch.

Really the only ones I don't like are the bright cool lights. Incandescent aren't as bad but the LED ones are just so bright and often clash with the softer tones of other homes.

Now if you're talking about these kinds of icicle lights:


they aren't my cup of tea either (though it doesn't appear I dislike them as much as you do) and yes you can still buy these kinds as well. Really for me it's about the cool white vs warm white.

 

[maxiesmom]

I like both kinds. The white look like frost, and the colored ones are pretty too.

I'm not sure why someone would be so offended by one or the other to have a crusade against it. To me it is like being offended by what color your neighbor's house is. Their choice. You do you.

 

[Christine]

I am a fan of colored lights, always have been. I remember when the white lights came out in abundance (must have been early 1980s?). People I know thought they looked "klassy."

 

[a1tinkfans]

Green palm trees
White bushes
Candles flickering in every window
Reindeers grazing outside
along with bears, puffins, pandas and such all inside.
Merry Merry one-all!

 

[Klayfish]

I don't discriminate, I have lights of all kinds. In my display, I have:

White mini (the small ones most people use)
Red mini
Green mini
Blue mini
Multi color (red, green, blue, orange, etc...) mini
Blue icicle
Red C7 (larger bulbs)
White C7
Multi C9 (the really big bulbs)
White C9
Red C9
Red "rope" lights
White "tape" lights
Green "tape" lights

 

[kimblebee]

My parents have the old fashioned coloured lights outside. They are talking about switching because most of them have the colour peeled off and the replacement bulbs are super expensive. They also use a string or two of big bulbs on their tree too.

 

[Sparkly]

I have multicoloured LED on my window with a chaser effect and static warm white LED on my walls.

 

[Hikergirl]

I hate colored lights, especially the LED ones. I like a warm feeling at Christmas time and those hideous colored lights make it look like I'm in some futuristic nightmare. But hey OP if you like the colored ones by all means put them up and enjoy, it's a strange thing to get so worked up about especially on Christmas Day. Hope you are able to enjoy your day no matter what kind of lights others like

 

[Dan Murphy]

Charlie!! Great you either found this old post (can't imagine that) or you had it in Word from back when that was the smart thing to do as we all so often lost our posts when we clicked 'post'. I thought there were references to the lights looking like messed up hair. No? Maybe that was another one?

One of the old dis classic posts. For those here who don't know charlie.nj, you had to know charlie.nj. Always great to see you pop in a few times a year, charlie. My best to you and your family, all grown up by now.

A very Merry Christmas to you and your family, Charlie, and everyone here.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I love Christmas lights of all colors, and I’m just happy to see people put up lights at all. My bushes are covered in colored lights and my palm tree is wrapped in warm white... it was just what I had on hand.

 

[fla4fun]

My favorite holiday display on my regular commute is a mid century colonial with a white fence around the property. They use the big multi colored lights on both the house and fence, smaller incandescent colored lights on trees and bushes, and then have a white reindeer and white snowman in the yard. I actually drive a little out of the way to see the house in December. It’s not one of those over the top displays, but just the perfect balance of everything.

I also go by a Queen Anne inspired house that outlines everything on the house with white incandescent lights and then puts up huge wreaths with colored lights on any empty wall space. I have counted at least six huge wreaths. All the little white lights make me think of Disney.